Young continues to struggle with knee

San Francisco 49ers defensive back Chris Culliver, right, breaks up a pass intend for Detroit Lions wide receiver Titus Young, left, during the first quarter of an NFL football game in San Francisco, Sept. 16. A pass interference penalty was called on the play. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

ALLEN PARK — Titus Young was nowhere to be seen again on Wednesday. The Detroit Lions wide receiver has been in and out of practice since training camp with a knee problem.

“It’s impacting him. Any time you miss practice time when you’re a young player, it’s going to impact. But you have to persevere through it. He’s worked very hard in rehab and all those different things. And there’s some days he’s able to do more than others,’’ coach Jim Schwartz said.

“But it certainly has had an impact simply because when you’re a young player, the sync of the offense and things like that. He’ll be a productive player for us. He’s worked very hard and we’ll get through that,’’ Schwartz added.

In the first four games, Young has nine receptions for 117 yards and a touchdown, along with two carries for 16 yards.

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Young and Matthew Stafford were getting more and more in sync as last season wore on. Missing practice has not helped this season.

“Obviously the more he’s on the field, the more reps we get together, the better we’re going to be together,’’ Stafford said. “He has to do what’s best for him to feel good on Sundays, and that’s totally understandable, that’s part of this game. There’s a lot of guys on our team that do that, that need to do that.

“Titus is definitely a guy who during the bye week, he had a couple good practices, and looking forward to having some good practices this week,’’ Stafford said. “He’s a guy we understand is getting a lot of singles (coverages) and we have to start making teams pay for that.’’

A hero visits

Army Staff Sgt. Travis Mills who lost four limbs fighting in Afghanistan was the special guest at Lions practice on Wednesday.

Afterward he met with players and coaches. He chatted and showed off his voice-operated artificial left hand to Schwartz.

Mills, who is from Vassar, Mich., was back in his hometown recently to be honored with a parade down the main street.

Ins and outs

The Lions seem remarkably healthy coming off their bye week. Only Corey Williams, who is recovering from knee surgery, and Titus Young (knee) sat out practice.